At Llys Lew we look for the same qualities whether we are breeding, purchasing (see “How to acquire your perfect equestrian partner“) or training either for ourselves or for clients. We believe these qualities hold true for all competition horses, and that they are achieved through a combination of breeding, handling, environment and training.

From birth to 5

Breeding – dunce or superstar?

A mixture of science, judgement and plain luck, breeding can throw up a few surprises. The single most important thing to remember is that there are no guarantees, rolling the dice by putting the current “flavour of the month” stallion to a mare with a good bloodline is unlikely to produce the desired results.

Carefully selecting bloodlines considerably increases the odds of offspring inheriting the traits you are looking for. There is a lot of data about “heritable” traits (traits where inheritance is known to be a factor, the KWPN produces information) and careful objective assessment of a mare coupled with research and “inside” knowledge of stallions is the best way of achieving a happy outcome. This does however require the ability to assess factors such as outline, conformation, correctness of paces and temperament accurately and objectively, and to know what you are looking for in the offspring.

Handling – hooligan or angel?

Breeding creates the potential, early handling is a big factor in determining whether it is realised. Youngsters need to socialise with other horses to learn how to establish their place in a herd, and they must also learn how to interact with people without being frightened or aggressive. Many larger scale breeding operations have too many youngsters to give each enough individual human attention, while smaller operations may not have the stock or the space to turn youngsters out with a herd. The result can be a horse that behaves badly on the yard, is unpredictable around others or doesn’t bond well with people. More commonly, unpleasant early experiences may lead to a lifelong distrust of men or dogs or boxing – we all know horses with these sorts of issues!

Environment – keep it natural!

Environmental factors such as nutrition and turn-out can have a big influence on health in later life. Horses, like people, mature at different speeds; but in most the joints in the legs are not fully formed until 4 or 5, and the spine is not mature until 6 or 7.

There is always pressure to start work as early as possible.  Many youngsters are put on hard food too early, accelerating bulk at the expense of joint formation, and under work too young, putting too much strain on an under developed skeleton. Amongst other problems this can increase the chances of developing Osteochondrosis (OCD), in which the joints start to deteriorate, or “kissing spine”, where parts of the vertebrae rub together under saddle, both of which can appear in later life when the horse should be at its competitive peak.

Ideally youngsters should be turned out for the first 3 or 4 years to graze naturally with the herd, with free rein to move about in a large and varied environment and given hard feed sparingly. Work should be introduced gradually and sensitively at 4 depending on the horses growth, with careful attention to tack, stamina and muscular development. We sometimes see people asking “what should I be doing with my 3 year old?” the answer, in our opinion, is “turn it out with the herd and enjoy its freedom while it plays in a natural environment, handling and playing with it occasionally”.

Backing and Training

At Llys Lew backing is a gradual process that is a natural extension of early handling. We handle foals and yearlings regularly; making sure every encounter is a pleasant experience for the youngster. This creates a bond built on mutual trust and backing is then a gradual progression through having a rug draped over the back, to a saddle without a rider, a rider leaning over the back and eventually the rider under saddle. Even today, some still practice outdated breaking approaches, in which the horse can be cowered or beaten into submission and may never fully recover psychologically – be sure you know how your horse was backed!

Training also follows a natural course, the objective being to establish paces, conformation and way of going, gradually building up strength, stamina and balance without forcing the pace and keeping the horse challenged and motivated  within his own ability. Thus for a horse with high ability, more advanced movements may be introduced quite early; for another it may be more appropriate to spend more time consolidating at Novice or Elementary before moving on. Whatever the level, we believe horses should enjoy their work – if they aren’t then we back off until we find out what’s wrong.

5 upwards, under saddle

Health – horse AND rider – twisted truths

A few years ago, after Tracy had had her back “fixed” for the nth time she bought a book on massage techniques for horse and rider and decided to have a musculoskeletal expert look at the horses. The results were a revelation and have led to regular visits ever since. Ian “the back man” as we call him visits Llys Lew once every six weeks or so, and spends the best part of a day working on horses and riders alike.

From Ian, Tracy has learnt some very important lessons, which she now applies her coaching and teaching:

• Most of us carry minor injuries that cause subtle imbalances and compensations. These are often the result of events that happened so long ago that we have forgotten their origins and have become unaware of them.
• If the rider is unconsciously compensating for, for example, a weaker left leg, over time this will result in an imbalance in the horse. Sometimes there is a direct translation (weaker on the left rein), sometimes it is behavioural (horse knows it “can get away within it” on the weaker side).
• She also checks the tack, especially the saddle – it is not uncommon for a saddle that fitted perfectly once to be causing discomfort because the horse has developed through training (or growth if under 7), or the padding has settled through use.

Of course many horses naturally have one rein stronger than the other, which can either compound the problem or compensate for it, and other people riding or training your horse can also correct or exacerbate problems. This is of particular interest to Para riders, where the development of the horse should be done to consciously compliment the rider.

Temperament

Often overlooked, temperament is probably the single most important factor in success for the amateur rider. Many highly bred competition horses are “hot” or unpredictable, requiring a level of training and competitive riding that the busy amateur rider can’t maintain. Most competitive riders are familiar with the problems; under intensive training and competition the horse shows huge potential, but if the intensity drops he plays up and seems to go backwards.

For most riders, the ideal horse is one that is happy to be turned out between training sessions without going backwards, competed only at weekends without playing up and steady while hacking. Breeders often overlook the production of horses for the amateur market as they are all desperate to produce the next Olympic champion. Most of us are juggling work, family and horses and do not have the facilities or the time to produce a hot headed horse. All the amateur wants is decent and improving competition scores produced from correct training effort without the stress of wondering how he will behave in the arena this time!

We breed and train horses to be:

• People centric, friendly, cooperative and uncomplicated
• Willing, trainable, intelligent and hard working
• Easy to ride and responsive to aids
• Easy to box, easy to hack with good stable manners
• Easy to handle for vet, farrier
• Reliable, predictable and consistent
• Enjoy their work through their partnership with you

Breeding for temperament is important, since this gives you the base to work from, but all of the characteristics listed above are also a product of handling, health, diet and training – changing the approach to these can lead to a marked improvement in even the most difficult horse.

Conformation and paces

Obviously a good temperament is not much use if the horse has poor functional conformation, incorrect movement or is prone to injury, we seek to achieve:

• Correct and proportional conformation
• Light-footed, balanced and supple
• Stamina, impulsion and natural self-carriage
• Robustness and with a durable constitution, not injury prone
• Well-proportioned and uphill
• Correct paces showing activity, suppleness, balance and carriage

The breeding creates the canvass to work from, and the
temperament determines the rate or progression – the rest is down to an accurate and consistent training regime.

Feed

The wrong feed can have a dramatic effect, and in some cases “problem horses” are simply being fed incorrectly. Sometimes diet supplements are then introduced in an effort to correct the poor behaviour, and in extreme cases the horse is eventually sold on at discount.

This issue was brought home to us when a horse that was out on lease was returned because it was spooking in competition arenas and was “too hot” for the young rider. We were puzzled – the horse in question had always been laid back and easy going, and had a long competition track record with no evidence of spooking or unpredictable behaviour.  Sure enough, when it came back it was an entirely different animal; even stable manners had gone out the window. It transpired that the horse had been kept and fed mostly hard food, with little hay or roughage – the equivalent of feeding a small child nothing but sugar. The resulting pent up energy is probably what you want in a race horse but far from ideal in dressage! The diet had unsurprisingly led to a few “explosions” in the arena, which made the rider nervous and labelled the horse as “difficult”, both of which compounded the problem as the horse was getting less exercise and fewer outings than he needed. By the time we got him back things had got to the point where it took 9 months to get him back to where  he was when he left us – all through the wrong diet!

Tracy has tried all the major feed brands, with and without supplements. She now feeds a lot of hay (the horses natural diet and the one they are best adapted to), with a small amount of Havens “Slobbermash” (half a scoop morning and evenings) to the majority of her horses. That’s it – no supplements, no sugar beet, no chaff. The horses love it and have never looked healthier, with bright eyes and shiny coats. Supplements and other feeds (such as nuts) are reserved for older horses and nursing mares – everyone is healthy and the feed bills have gone down!

Conclusion

As we have seen, the competition horse is a product of both breeding and upbringing, which includes:

• Diet as a youngster and an adult
• Human and other horse contact from birth
• Training and handling from birth
• Attention to health detail (teeth, hooves, back)
• Attention to tack and equipment detail (saddle fit)
• “Unfortunate events” – injury, owner/groom with a temper, travelled in a box that’s too small – the list is endless.

Be mindful of all these factors when buying or breeding a horse and when selecting your trainer.